No Replacement
by Flame Swordmistress
Summary: Oneshot. The letters may not have been much, but they certainly made his day. Left behind in Disney Castle while Goofy fights the Heartless, Max can only read while his dad battles without him. Lady Daisy understands all too well. KH2.


This has been in very slow progress for over a year. Someday I'll get all these concepts and half-wriiten things finished and posted. (Ha.) I always kind of assumed Max was waiting back at the Castle even though none of the games ever mentioned him. Judging by this site I'm not the only one.

ConCrit always appreciated!

For reference, Max here is roughly the same age as in _A Goofy Movie_. It feels weird having to specify how old someone is, but Max is one of the only Disney characters that we actually see age.

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><p>Max Goof leaned over the railing of the gummi bay, surveying the rows of varying models that stood empty and waiting for a pilot to jump in them and fly away from Disney Castle.<p>

Not that he hadn't considered doing just that. When he was little, a plethora of people had at different times found him seated in the captain's chair of one model or the other, gripping the control stick and pretending he was flying it. That same plethora of people had also had the task of pulling him out and delivering a lecture about not playing with expensive equipment. More than once his small rear had gotten a smacking for his imagined flights but that wasn't enough to deter him. Now that he was grown he still came to the hanger, though to admire the newest designs and scour the blueprints rather than to play games.

But today he wasn't here to look at the ships.

Max whistled sharply to be heard above the grinding of the machinery. "Hey guys! Where're you at this time?"

"Look up!" came a high-pitched voice from above him.

"But move out of the way!"

"Better run if you want to keep your head!"

Not needing to be told twice, Max dove to the right. A gummi block the size of a small freezer crashed to the floor where he had been standing. "Jeez!" Max picked himself off the floor. "An earlier warning might have been nice."

Two small balls of fur dropped from the platform that had previously housed the gummi: two small balls of fur wearing royal uniforms. Chip and Dale, chief gummi mechanics – and in their down time, the castle's resident mischief team – beamed at him.

"Hi there! Glad you've still got your head!" Dale giggled.

"Maybe you should look before you drop something, pinecone-brain." Chip bopped his partner right on his big red nose, shutting him up if just for the moment. "All in one piece, Max? Didn't squash your skateboard, did we?"

"No, it's…it's fine. I'm fine. We're both fine." Max finished pulling himself back together as the chipmunk pair pushed the gummi block – apparently far lighter than it looked – across the hanger to a chute attached to a large computer system. "Hey, have you guys found any more messages for me?"

"Yeah, found one this morning!" Dale chirped as the two of them shoved the gummi into the chute, their tiny tails working overtime.

"Really?" Max perked up, practically leaping over to the console. "When did it come in? Is it a long one? Where is it?"

"Hold your horses!"

"Keep your hair on the top of your head and we'll get it for you."

Chip and Dale scampered across the giant keyboard in perfect sync, between them somehow managing to press all the right buttons to bring up the screen they were looking for. Max leaned forward eagerly to read it but one of the fuzzballs jumped on his fingers. "And hands off the hardware."

The young Goof backed up reluctantly until the computer began to whirr. A printout spat from the side and he snatched it excitedly. "All right! Thanks guys, thanks a lot." Max was on his skateboard and zooming up the rails of the gummi bay stairs before either chipmunk could respond.

The familiar route through the castle back to his room seemed to take three times as long as usual, even as he very nearly bowled over four different people and a broom servant in his haste to get there. This was the best part of his week. Well, it didn't happen on schedule…sometimes twice a week, sometimes twice a month…but Max liked to think of it as the best part of his week. In a way, he envied Huey, Dewy, and Louie for being out there among the stars, able to talk with their Unca Donald whenever they ended up on the same world. Instead he had to rely on these little sheets of paper.

The gummi ship _Highwind_, the one his dad was on, was definitely capable of sending and receiving transmissions but over this distance it was only allowed for important official business, like when Chip and Dale detected a new pathway between worlds or Jiminy Cricket sent an update on his Journal. Personal chatter was restricted, and Max guessed that it would only interfere with the mission anyway. But Goofy – quite by accident, Max was sure – had discovered an alternative way to communicate with his son. Whenever the chipmunks pulled the empty _Highwind_ into a remote dock for repairs or upgrades, they had access to the computer systems. By writing notes in an old unused file, Goofy could effectively type his kid letters to be pulled out and conveyed care of the royal mechanics. It may not have been much, but it certainly made Max's day.

He jumped to the ground the instant he'd passed the threshold of his bedroom, the skateboard flipping over itself to crash into a pile of magazines and some laundry that may or may not have been clean. Without his dad around to force him to clean things up, his room was getting more than a little out of hand.

Max settled onto the bed, flicking on a lamp to be sure that he didn't miss a single word of the letter.

_Dear Maxie-_

_Hiya! How are ya? You eating all your vegetables like I told ya?_

Max cringed. Yeah, that was his dad all right.

_I know you were never a big fan of 'em, but remember to eat all them brussels sprouts and broccolis and any more of those B vegies I forgot._

_Hope things have been goin' well back home. The Heartless and these Nobody fellers have been getting trickier and trickier out here. I know Disney Castle's kinda off the map as far as some of these worlds are concerned but do me a favor and keep your eyes peeled just in case. _

_Like I said in one of my other letters, we ran into the King just before we left that little place Twilight Town. I'm not sure, but I think I might of got a glimpse of him here on this world too. You should see this place, Maxie. It's a castle like ours, 'cept this one's all dark and spooky like. And trying to get around sure makes my head hurt, 'cause just about everything you see is alive…_

Max read wide-eyed as his father described an incredible world, one where princes became monsters and servants were transformed into everyday objects that could talk and move. It was like something out of a strange fairytale, but he knew the picture the letter painted couldn't have been more real. Awful curses, magic roses, even a beautiful maiden – all being threatened by Heartless disguised as gargoyles and bats. A world he would probably never see, but one that seemed determined to make as much trouble as possible for his dad.

True to Goofy fashion, the letter went off on tangents. One moment his dad would detail the winding route it took the gummi ship to reach the world; the next he would describe a new shield he'd forged with the help of Moogles. No matter where the sentences rambled, his son hung on to every questionably-spelled word like it was printed in gold.

_Sora thinks that feller in the black coat we keep missing is his friend Riku. I don't know for sure, but I really hope it does turn out to be one of his friends. He's been lookin' for them for a long while now and it's 'bout time he deserves a break. He's getting mighty good with that Keyblade. When Donald and I first met him he didn't know next to nothin' and now he's jumpin' in to fight a cursed ballroom by himself like it's a walk in the park. Who knows, maybe he's right and that black coat guy is his friend. And if that was the King I saw, maybe it means we're gettin' closer to fixing this whole mess and going home. _

_I sure do miss you, Max. Hopefully I'll see you soon. Take care, now._

_Love,_

_Dad_

"Max?" There was a knock on the doorframe and a white-feathered hand pushed the decorated wood aside. "Oh good, this _is_ where you disappeared to."

Lady Daisy, right-hand confidant of the Queen, marched into the room without bothering to wait for permission. She stepped easily over the junk on the floor, the bustle of her gown never touching the furniture on either side of her no matter how close together the clutter was stacked. "I've been sent to give you another talk about watching where you're going with that skateboard. Horace is complaining that you practically ran him down. Again."

"Huh? Oh uh, yeah sure." Max was too busy rereading the letter to pay much attention to what she'd said.

That was, until she reached out and plucked it out of his hand.

"Hey!"

Daisy bent down into his face, her bill inches from his nose. "Mister, you're going to listen to me when I'm talking to you."

"Okay, okay! Jeez!" He snatched the paper back, bringing it close to his chest protectively in case she tried to take it again. If there was one thing Lady Daisy was not, it was a pushover. When she demanded respect, she was going to get respect. Or else.

She drew herself up straight, crossing her arms until she was sure she had the teenager's full attention. Then she relaxed, dropping the commanding presence like a box of rocks. "You know I don't like to give long lectures. Just promise me you'll watch where you're going next time you decide to zip around on that thing."

"Yes ma'am," Max agreed reluctantly, kicking the skateboard under the bed in a belated attempt to hide the evidence. At least he wasn't going to get an earful – that much he could appreciate.

Instead of leaving now that her job was done, though, Lady Daisy sat down on the bed next to him, moving yesterday's shirt out of the way of her dress. Now that the attitude was unnecessary, she seemed more than a little curious. "So what had you in such a hurry, anyway?"

"Got another note from Dad." He turned the paper so she could see, but still kept it far enough away that she couldn't make another surprise grab for it. "First one in almost four weeks. I mean, it's not as bad as when he went almost a year without sending anything but he was still starting to freak me out."

Daisy put on her best warm smile and gave him a light pat on the shoulder. "Don't you worry. It might take a while but they'll make it back safe. All of them: the King, Donald, your dad, the Keybearer…"

Max snorted. "The Keybearer. That's the only thing anybody ever talks about around here anymore." He glared at the offending paragraph of the letter. "I mean, who does this Sora kid think he is? I've seen his pictures in the Journal. He's scrawny. And he's got a stupid haircut."

To Max's surprise, Daisy began to laugh. That was not the reaction he'd been going for at all and his scowl deepened accordingly.

"Why Max Goof! I had no idea you were jealous!"

"Jealous?" Max exploded. "Jealous of that spiky-headed little–" His insults jumbled together in his frustration until they wouldn't come out of his mouth at all. He sputtered for a moment before settling for crossing his arms in a huff. "If I'm jealous, it's not my fault," he grumbled. "I shouldn't have to be. I shouldn't have to be sitting here while my dad's out who-knows-where with just Donald and some brat for company. He's been stuck with that kid so long he sounds like he's starting to get attached."

That was the problem right there, Daisy noted. And the fact that stubborn, cool, teenage Max had blurted it straight out meant it must be a big problem indeed. Her expression softened and she settled in next to him.

"Sora isn't trying to steal your dad away from you. He's got his own life and his own friends and family that he's trying to get back to, just the same way everybody who's had their lives upset by the Darkness is. I'm sure Goofy and Sora are good friends after their adventures, but that boy isn't looking for another father."

"Maybe he's not trying, but that's what he's getting." Max's tone was far less venomous now, and sounded to Daisy much more sad. Lonely even. "Dad sees him everyday, and fights with him and eats with him and probably shares funny stories with him…stuff that's supposed to be happening _here_. _My_ dad is supposed to hang with _me_."

He looked so lonely in that adolescent pouting that Daisy couldn't resist putting an arm around his shoulders. "You're his son, Max, and he's one of the most loyal, dedicated people I've ever met. He wouldn't give up or replace his son for anything, much less some boy he was thrown together on a mission with. We both know your dad isn't the sharpest tool in the shed but he's got one of the biggest hearts I've ever seen. And it belongs to you."

Max stared at the letter as though it would turn into a photograph if he looked hard enough. He wished it would. He'd had a long, long time to get used to a Goofy-less life, but for some reason he found that he was missing his knucklehead father more than usual tonight. And even though he knew it couldn't be helped, he was still pretty sore that this Keybearer got to spend so much time with his dad while all he had were these crummy letters.

His voice came out as a growl. "It's not fair."

"I know how you feel–"

"No you don't!" Max snapped, then paused at the look in Daisy's eyes. It was sadder than he'd ever seen it. "You…you do, don't you?"

She nodded. "I miss my Donald just as much as you miss Goofy."

Instantly Max regretted his harsh tone. They were in the same boat but he hadn't really thought about it before, too wrapped up in his own problems. And Lady Daisy didn't even have letters.

She sighed and pulled a locket from around her neck, flipping it open and gazing longingly into it. As he'd guessed, it was a picture of Donald. "There are hundreds of other girls out there among all those stars, but I don't worry about him falling in love with somebody else. I trust my duck and I know that no matter how pretty anybody else is, or how much makeup they have, or how many designer shoes, or high-end dresses, or 24 karat necklaces…"

Max cleared his throat.

"He loves me and needs me the same way I need him," Daisy continued without missing a beat. "I fully expect him to forget our anniversary next week because that's what Donald does best: forget important dates. But I don't expect him to pick up with another girl. And there's no way your dad is going to pick up another son."

The young Goof sighed reluctantly and leaned into her, even though her words had reassured him just as much as she'd meant them to. "I just want him home," he confessed quietly.

Daisy hugged him lightly. "So do I, dear. We all do. And they'll come home, all right, so when they get back we just have to make sure they're as proud of us as we are of them."

Max skimmed the letter once more, absently. "Any idea how to do that?"

"Well, for a start…" Daisy's voice took on a slightly mischievous tone. "Maybe you could pick up this room?"

Max pulled a face but couldn't bring himself to protest. Knowing his dad, that _would_ be something that would make him proud.

He sighed. The things he was willing to do for his father.


End file.
